Spring Challenge North is
bringing its super-popular, all-women’s adventure race to
Lake Taupo in October and it promises to be the ultimate
ladies day out - in the wilderness.

After sell-out success
for over a decade in the South Island, Spring Challenge
organisers five-time Adventure Racing World Champion Nathan
Fa’avae and his wife Jodie are holding their annual,
multi-discipline, all-abilities event for the third time in
the North Island.

Nathan says Taupo will host “an
adventure you won’t forget.”

“We started with
Rotorua in 2016, then Auckland last year and now we are
excited to be based out of Taupo. Spring Challenge North is
committed to bringing you quality adventures in amazing
locations. We have an excellent course planned for October
27 that we're sure you'll love. It features mind-blowing
scenery, off the beaten track locations and a special mix of
adventure and culture. Get your team of three, or four,
sorted and enjoy the pathway to the event.”

Spring
Challenge is an adventure race for women which began in New
Zealand in 2007. It involves teams of three women competing
in a race, which features three or more sporting
disciplines, often running/hiking, mountain biking, rafting
(or kayaking), plus elements of navigation and orienteering.
Teams do the entire course together, traveling through the
stages as a unit - meaning it is not a relay where different
team mates do different stages. In adventure racing, the
whole team does everything together.

“While it is a
race, a lot of teams are first-timers or new to this
challenge and use the opportunity to enjoy the adventure on
the day and all the fun training missions that precede it.
Rather than going flat out for the podium places, many teams
are just happy to be out there in the outdoors and to cross
the finish line,” Jodie says.

This year, for the first
time, the Spring Challenge North Island event only will be
opened up to four-person teams. These teams will still
compete in the same event and category but have the option
to add an extra team mate, for those who want to compete as
a foursome.

Experienced adventure racer Dan Moore is the
course designer for Spring Challenge North – Great Lake
Taupo and he says Taupo was chosen as this year’s location
because it offers a diverse environment.

“Lakes, rivers,
forests, bush and both public and private land gave us a
range of course-planning opportunities. The region boasts a
number of options for white water rafting, with a raft
guide, mountain biking and trekking and also, as always,
some great areas for navigation.”

Taupo’s position in
the centre of the North Island also added to its appeal, Dan
says.

“Lake Taupo and its associated rivers and bush
areas are also a central adventure location for northern
Spring Challenge participants and the region has long been
seen as a Mecca for adventure activities in the North
Island.”

Spring Challenge events always seek out
un-tapped areas that surprise even the adventurous locals
and although Dan can’t give anything away just yet (the
course remains a secret until the maps are handed out the
evening before the race starts on Friday, October 26), he
can reveal this much.

“The region has diversity and also
areas of unique character that may or may not be known to
everyone. Its volcanic history has shaped the land in
interesting ways and the distinctive wilderness and bush are
not experienced anywhere else in the country. It is our hope
that the course will showcase not only the natural landscape
but also some of the social landscape and the people and
communities that live here,’’ Dan says.

So what can
teams expect from the race?

“The course will involve
guided white water rafting on a great scenic section of
local river, some interesting trekking and mountain biking
and as always navigation that will challenge some teams but
reward those who have put work into this element. There will
be route choice at times, which will allow teams to
strategise and potentially pick up placings and time through
being cunning,” Dan says.

There are specific training
guides on the event website www.springchallenge.co.nz but Dan has
some more tips for those teams wanting to be well-prepared
come October.

“Get out and about with your team mates in
all disciplines (especially trekking and mountain biking) as
much as possible. Expose your team to some missions that are
around the same time duration as your proposed race (3-hour,
6-hour or 9-hour) and don't be afraid to set yourselves some
navigation challenges in training. As a team, take turns at
designing exciting new training missions that have an
element of surprise so you get used to navigating and
thinking as a team before the event.”

Spring Challenge
North – Great Lake Taupo is limited to 250 teams and the
categories are School (3-hour), 3-hour, 6-hour and
9-hour.

There is also a Corporate Challenge for businesses
to enter co-workers, where they can enjoy team bonding in an
outdoor environment. Promote wellness within your workplace
by creating teams of three women to run/hike, raft, mountain
bike and navigate their way to reaping the rewards of
finishing the three-hour ($990 per team) or six hour ($1140
per team) courses.

The West Coast town of Westport in the
South Island will also be hosting the 12th edition of the
Spring Challenge on September 29.

SPRING
CHALLENGE NORTH – GREAT LAKE TAUPOEntries for
the North Island event will open at 7am on Wednesday, April
4.

SPRING CHALLENGE SOUTH – WESPORTThis year we are staggering the South Island entry
process.Wednesday April 4 9-hour teams, entries open
6amThursday April 5: 6-hour teams, entries open
6amFriday April 6: 3-hour teams, entries open
6am

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